Georgetown’s Kathleen Sebelius invitation called a ‘direct challenge’ to bishops

It’s May. Graduation gowns are flowing. Families are flocking to campuses, digital cameras in hand, ready to document what has … Continued

by Elizabeth Tenety

It’s May. Graduation gowns are flowing. Families are flocking to campuses, digital cameras in hand, ready to document what has now become an annual ritual of higher education: It’s graduation speaker controversy season.

Brendan Hoffman

Bloomberg

Sebelius is in the middle of another Catholic controversy.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will be the speaker for Georgetown University’s Georgetown Public Policy Institute’s “Tropaia” awards ceremony on May 18, the university announced Friday. The Catholic former governor has a long list of credentials in the public policy world, detailed by the university below, but it’s her role at the heart of this year’s debate over religious liberty, contraception and Catholic institutions that has conservative activists animated in opposition.

The university’s commencement controversy joins a growing list of speaker squabbles unfolding around the country.

— Massachusetts Bishop Robert McManus asked Anna Maria College “to rescind its invitation to Victoria Kennedy because of concerns over her position on some social issues that counter Catholic teachings,” according to the AP. The small Catholic school withdrew its invitation to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s widow, the Boston Globe reported.